Letter: Revenue growth will never dig us out of the $16 trillion hole we're in

Letter: Revenue growth will never dig us out of the $16 trillion hole we're in

Froma Harrop's Nov. 29 column states Social Security is on sound footing and solvent until 2033. I am not sure where Harrop is getting her information but the truth is that Social Security already has a negative cash flow. That will make our debt problem even worse because our Congress and president will not be able to use the surplus because there won't be any.

By the way, that trust fund she talks about is nothing but IOUs the government has issued, and it amounts to a debt! There is no trust fund.

That brings me to "the fiscal cliff." We are already over the cliff, in hock for more than $16 trillion and the deficits are projected to continue well into the future. The "balanced" solution is a tax hike on the top 2 percent, but no meaningful cuts.

I suspect the president isn't really interested in solving the problem, just sticking it to the wealthy. Maybe all the talk that he is a socialist might be close to the truth. The tax hike will generate billions per year, not much in the way of solving our debt problem. It narrows the deficits some, but still generates more than $1 trillion in debt each year over the next 10 years.

Everyone assumes there will be additional revenue through growth, but with the country aging and health care costs going up, and fewer people in the workforce, costs are going to outpace revenue for many years to come.

Our lawmakers must sit down and cut all the stupid government programs, all the waste in government, adjust entitlement programs, correct the health care situation without nationalizing it and do it now!

The president was elected, but not to continue this lunacy of spending for spending's sake.